Former Jaycees will serve as 4th of July parade marshals

By Iva Kay Horner Publisher/Editor

Posted:
06/17/2014 09:00:00 PM MDT

Walt Bailey, Wayne Small (standing) and Ray Madsen (seated) will serve as grand marshals of the 4th of July parade. Also serving, but unable to attend the event, will be Bob Sharritt. These men were charter members of the Brush Junior Chamber of Commerce or Jaycees. (Iva Kay Horner/News-Tribune)

The history of the Brush Rodeo is lengthy, however, it was in 1955 when the Jaycees and other organizations formed the Brush Rodeo Association.From that year on, the rodeo has offered "plenty of good old-fashioned fun" through barbecues, fireworks, and parades.As part of this year's annual rodeo, and to commemorate 60 years of rodeo in Brush, charter members of the former Jaycees or Junior Chamber of Commerce Walt Bailey, Wayne Small, and Ray Madsen will lead the Fourth of July parade as grand marshals under the theme of "60 Years…Now and Then". Also a parade marshal, but unable to attend, is Bob Sharritt of Arizona.According to current Rodeo Association board member and former president Steve Treadway, a rodeo and race met were held for 25 years prior to World War II, but was stopped. Upon service members return from the war, the Junior Chamber of Commerce was formed.Walt Bailey recalls that midget auto races were held for two years. "We tore down all the fences around the race track and put them back in. It was a lot of work and we didn't want to do that again, so we thought, why not start a rodeo. So we did in 1955."According to Small, "People around town wanted the rodeo back so we decided to take it over. The chamber had it for a number of years. We did everything but had help in advertising and fireworks from other organizations.""It was a success…it worked," Bailey added. "There used to be a saying that if you have something you can't get done, it's impossible to get done and it ain't going to work, give it to the Jaycees.

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And that's right."But there came a point, Small explained, when the Jaycees didn't have the time to do everything involved. "So we went to the chamber and city and said we needed help and they helped," he stated.Treadway noted that when he came on board to hope, there were around 12 organizations involved in putting the rodeo on including the chamber, Rotary and Lions clubs, as well as area churches.Working on the rodeo all those years ago brings many memories to the parade marshals, including Joy Lowry performing trick riding. Lowry Kjeldgaard served as the first Brush Rodeo Queen in 1956 and received the Watrous Pioneer Award in 2011. "She was good, that was an extra," Bailey remarked."The Jaycees always had a street dance for the rodeo," Small added, with Bailey explaining it was held the night prior to the event.Treadway added, "When I came on, we could have the rodeo only on the track because the high school played football on the infield so we only had the track and had to build a fence around the arena." That changed in 1980 when Beetdigger Stadium was built at Brush High School."It was a lot of work," Bailey said. "They Jayc-ettes, the wives, helped a lot on different projects.""We took all the entries," Small stated, adding that pay-outs were handled by his wife, Marilyn. "It was an amateur rodeo so the prize money was pretty small," Bailey noted, with Treadway explaining the pay-out was $200 years ago. "That was anise little sum for these cowboys. They came from Sterling, Akron…basically they were near," said Bailey."It was the largest little amateur rodeo in the world," Small commented, adding that two performances were held on July 4 with the fire department handling the fireworks.One of Madsen's memories of the rodeo was when Sheriff Scotty from a Denver radio station was part of the parade and Jaycees member Lloyd Walker served as announcer for the rodeo.According to Treadway, the Brush Rodeo has had only three different livestock producers - McCombs Brothers, Edgar Wilson and Southwick, who have supplied stock for the last several years.As to being selected to serve as grand marshals, the men are humble with Bailey stating, "I've never given it any thought…never thought it would come my way and for what reason would it come my way. I'm not rich, I didn't donate money to the town,' with Madsen echoing those sentiments. "I never even thought about it. Somebody more deserving should do it. For Small, "I think it's an honor for all the years we spent working with the rodeo. It's kind of an honor noting that we did something a long time ago."From Sterling, Bailey, who served in the National Guard, worked in Public Service for 42 years. Madsen, originally from Nebraska, and who landed on Omaha Beach at the age of 20, owned the service station next to The Carroll for 35 years, while Small, a Brush native and member of the U.S. Army, was in plumbing for more than 50 years. He also served on the Brush Fire Department for 28 years.***The Junior Chamber of Commerce (Jaycees) formed in May of 1951 with close to 40 members. The organization received its charter on October 3, 1951.In addition to the rodeo, the Jaycees sponsored Easter Egg hunts, conducted monthly paper drives, went on Booster trips, built the dug-outs at the baseball field, as well as constructed the Jaycee Building in Memorial Park. They also held a couple of stag parties, the parade marshals laughed.Members of the Jaycees, like many organizations, were comprised of farmers, lawyers, physicians, mechanics, local business managers and a veterinarian, who met on a monthly basis at The Carroll Hotel. Serving as the first president was John Raeber. Local attorney John Bell served as president in 1955 when the organization took charge of the rodeo.To be a member, a person had to be 21 years old but could only stay in the organization until they were 36. "Then you became an exhausted rooster," Bailey laughed.The Brush chapter dissolved in 1986 or 1987 according to members.

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